An Interpretivist’s Cloghttps://interpretivist.wordpress.com
Iconoclastic views on the world of business and marketing
Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:39:47 +0000 en
hourly
1 http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/6ff76b84b9344273b7c0b2915b9b7534?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngAn Interpretivist’s Cloghttps://interpretivist.wordpress.com
Migrationhttps://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/migration/
https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/migration/#respondMon, 19 Apr 2010 23:39:21 +0000http://interpretivist.wordpress.com/?p=591Due to increased traffic, I’ve migrated to a hosted wordpress setup. You can now read me at: www.marketingtoculture.com. I thank you for paying attention to what I have to say. I hope you can join me in my new home.

]]>https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/migration/feed/0interpretivistLove is everything.https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/building-digital-presence/
https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/building-digital-presence/#respondSun, 04 Apr 2010 22:19:09 +0000http://interpretivist.wordpress.com/?p=571The other day I was sitting on a patio at a local coffee joint and watching people walk by (in a totally non-creepy way!). It was the first day of spring in Toronto, love seemed to be in the air (this won’t get any cheesier I promise) and I couldn’t help but wonder what made relationships tick. At that very instant, I was struck by a profile on tribe.net. This was the profile of “Love is Everything“. I was amazed at how many friends Frank (the dude behind the profile) had – over 14,000! As I spent some time going through his page on Tribe I realized some critical things –

a. Frank figured out what his brand stands for, but he didn’t stop at that. Most importantly, he found a way to translate his brand promise into a cause worth pursuing.

b. Frank is truly authentic! He solely focuses on advancing his message through posts that add value to the community. He does this by giving his community content that furthers the cause.

c. Frank isn’t obsessed with himself. In fact, he hardly talks about himself on his profile.

In today’s digital economy, companies absolutely need to engage and involve their customer communities if they want to regain their business. Unfortunately, just having a great brand and brand promise is not sufficient.

“Today, consumers want their brands to deliver more value through utility, entertainment or information (the latter two are really just forms of utility). They want high quality products and services but expect brands to go beyond that to keep them as customers or to at least earn their advocacy.”

]]>https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/building-digital-presence/feed/0interpretivistLove is EverythingLove is everything's profile on Tribe.netBookmark and ShareHULU, News Corp – You must’ve missed that class in brand management, eh?https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/hulu-news-corp-you-mustve-missed-that-class-in-brand-management-eh/
https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/hulu-news-corp-you-mustve-missed-that-class-in-brand-management-eh/#respondWed, 31 Mar 2010 03:56:29 +0000http://interpretivist.wordpress.com/?p=562One of the first lessons I learnt in branding was that if you start selling a product at a certain price, you can always move to a price lower but never higher. Why is that you ask? Well, it’s a simple concept – consumers tend to develop a certain perception of quality for a product or service based on the price they paid for it. Once this perception is established in a consumer’s mind, it’s extremely difficult to change it for the better. Easy to change it for the worse though.

So what are the Marketing geniouses at Hulu and News Corp thinking? First, they offer their product for free and then, expect consumers (who’ve had free access all this while) to suddenly be willing to pay for the same content?! That’s absolutely absurd. I would understand if these companies were at least thinking of offering some premium content or add-ons for paying customers (you know… the “Freemium” model). That may possibly work, some day. For now though, I’m confident that this path that they’re choosing to take, will not lead to profitville.

Thoughts?

]]>https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/hulu-news-corp-you-mustve-missed-that-class-in-brand-management-eh/feed/0interpretivistThe burning digital publishing and broadcasting business modelBookmark and SharePersonal Empowerment and Community Building through Social Mediahttps://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/personal-empowerment-and-communal-world-building-through-social-media/
https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/personal-empowerment-and-communal-world-building-through-social-media/#respondTue, 23 Mar 2010 03:24:31 +0000http://interpretivist.wordpress.com/?p=550

Source: Flickr: Franco Folini "Graffiti on a truck: renuer"

Throughout history, the development of technology has always sparked counter-cultural movements that have looked to subvert popular culture and societal norms.

Many of these movements were inspired by the situationist movement of the 1960s. However, all these movements did have 2 common underlying motives. They all looked to improve personal empowerment and encouraged the building and growth of communities.

One such movement led to the use of print media to create the “Whole Earth Catalog“. This catalog promoted openness, user-generated content (yes!..back in the late 60s) and stood for the democratization of information and collective consciousness. Out of this catalog was born a message board called Whole Earth Lectronic Link (WELL) in 1985. This online message board looked to again subvert culture by attempting to use technological tools (initially built for societal control) to bring about Personal Empowerment and a sense of community. Of course, I don’t need to remind you that the same underlying motives form the foundation of Social Media and the web 2.0 world as we know it.

I therefore strongly feel the success of innovation in the Social Media world will be heavily dependent on whether or not newer ideas take the fulfillment of these very motives/ideals a step further. Yes, I know there are many other factors that will influence success, but I believe that these cultural motives are critical to laying a foundation that can withstand growth.

I think a good example is Foursquare (and of course other similar location based services) because it looks to improve personal empowerment by giving businesses the ability to better cater to their customers’ needs. Are there other examples of innovation in social media that adhere to these two principles? Your input will make this post and my follow-up a lot more interesting.

2. You cannot be allowed to patent an experience or the way we interact with a certain product. That is what prevents technology from moving ahead. I don’t know how such patents might work in Canada but my gut tells me that you can’t patent such experiences in Canada. Imagine a world where “the mouse” was patented and only XYZ company could use them! Makes no sense.

3. Apple’s roots lie heavily entrenched in punk culture. Through the years they’ve done such an amazing job of building brand equity and creating brand evangelists that they don’t seem to be afraid anymore. I personally do not think the culture of Apple’s target audience goes well with the concept of lawsuits or excessive patenting. Somehow the carry over equity is so heavy that small deviations from that culture (in the form of this lawsuit for example) won’t really affect Apple. So unfortunately it looks like they’re going to continue doing what they do. It’s up to us as consumers of Apple products to put our foot down and make them listen. Apple really doesn’t have a strong ethical background, do they?

I blogged a couple weeks ago about the need for a cultural shift before people start accepting various metrics for social media measurement. Well, it seems like that shift has already begun. Here’s an article from the Globe that talks about how MPs in Canada are using twitter to propagate their messages and engage in conversations with their followers. It’s interesting to notice that the analysis in this article was done by looking at a free tool called “Twitalyzer”. Metrics such as “Clout”, “Influence” and “Generosity” were taking seriously in this analysis. This is great news for all us social media geeks and junkies. This is only a sign of great things to come.

Here’s Campbell’s new packaging…its apparently designed using biometrics.

Let me guess, this was tested through a focus group…maybe a bunch of them over a span of 2 to 8 weeks. While I’m not refuting any of the concepts or the science behind the design of this package, I do strongly feel that many marketing organizations don’t always get it.

If Campbell’s invests the same amount of money in reaching out to their consumers through online communities, they might actually see a much higher ROI and maybe even grab some new customers along the way.

Yes, it is about creating an emotional connection with consumers and yes, packaging is important. However, it’s important only to the extent that it properly conveys the brand’s position and is easily identifyable on the shelf. Beyond that, brand’s are just wasting their time and money.

]]>https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/focus-groups-suck/feed/6interpretivistCampbell's PackagingDove for men?https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/dove-for-men/
https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/dove-for-men/#commentsFri, 12 Feb 2010 17:45:13 +0000http://interpretivist.wordpress.com/?p=518I’m not someone who’s usually a fan of brand extensions. They invariably tend to dilute the built up brand equity of the parent brand. However, having said that, I do feel that the new mens line from Dove could actually be successful. Here are 2 simple reasons why:

1. Culturally it has become acceptable for men to take care of themselves. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the guys at Dove were working with some numbers that showed quite a few men already using their products (no, I’m not one of them!)

2. In this particular case, dove seems to be very cleverly making positive use of their brand equity, telling men that they work hard and slog all their lives and hence deserve a little luxury for their skin. The ads are also pretty slick…hmm, maybe I need make a trip to the local grocery store!

Now we have to wait and see how the campaign and product actually fairs in the marketplace.

]]>https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/dove-for-men/feed/1interpretivistSocial Media… measurable?https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/social-media-measurable/
https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/social-media-measurable/#respondWed, 03 Feb 2010 01:52:41 +0000http://interpretivist.wordpress.com/?p=514Last night I attended a great event on Day 1 of Social Media Week here in Toronto. There was some great conversation, quite animated at times. What I found really surprising however, was the number of people at the event who still didn’t believe that social media’s impact was measurable. I personally don’t understand why people are still so uncomfortable about measuring social media. Just look at traditional forms of media such as television. How would you measure impact? Through GRPs, TRPs or impressions? How would you measure the impact of an OOH campaign? Impressions again? How do you think thats calculated?

When you really think about it, Social Media can actually let you track your prospects movement right from the time they happen to consume your content to the time they enter and complete your sales pipeline. Social Media conversions are actual conversions, not estimates. When someone says my digital campaign had an ROI of x%, its actually quite close to the real number. So, I ask you again, is it really about measurement or is it just a matter of having an open mind and giving something a try?!

]]>https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/social-media-measurable/feed/0interpretivistMeasurementThe business model of the remixhttps://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/the-business-model-of-the-remix/
https://interpretivist.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/the-business-model-of-the-remix/#commentsTue, 26 Jan 2010 04:23:30 +0000http://interpretivist.wordpress.com/?p=507I was recently listening to one of my favourite authors’ Matt Mason talk about Piracy as a business model on @SparkCBC. That podcast inspired me to write this post. Mason has inspired me since the day I started reading “The Pirates’ Dilemma”. I have personally used the remix to develop ideas and a business model for a startup that I am currently investigating. But enough about me. I want to use this post to highlight some interesting examples of companies that have embraced remix culture and have developed either a business model out of it or used it successfully in marketing their products/services.

1. The coolest example is of 20th Century Fox’s use of the comedic band GirlzNite‘s video “Die Hard”. Fox’s marketing team realized that this song (which was funny and pretty much summarized the plots of the first three movies) could be an ideal way to get consumers excited about the movie and generate buzz before the release of version 4…and they were right! Here’s the video.

2. Similarly, the BBC embraced the remix by creating the service “Masher” – that allowed users to freely remix their videos (from the BBC motion gallery) and share it with their friends and networks.

…and of course, who can forget the stark resemblance that the first generation iPods had to a certain type of portable radio (refer to one of my older posts).

So whats my point you ask?

Well, in the world of marketing, the concept of the remix can offer us a lot of ideas and help us innovate. Here’s why:

1. The remix is in all of us, because today it’s a part of culture. We understand the remix, we constantly consume it and we repeatedly use it – in our own lives.

2. The concept of the remix is still highly debated and not considered a part of mainstream culture. This gives marketers an advantage – the ability to create tight knit and highly involved communities of consumers.

At the end of the day, the remix is all around us – in hundreds of products and services we consume on a day to day basis. It’s up to marketing and business/product development teams in organizations to look at leveraging the remix to their advantage rather than looking at remixers as thieves/ copyright violators. A huge cultural shift is in order…thoughts?